The BCMaterials Active and Smart Materials research line incorporates a new post-doctoral researcher. Igor Irastorza Epelde joins our center to work on the potential of the piezoelectric and magnetoelectric polymers polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate (PHVB) for spinal cord regeneration therapies.

We want to welcome Ekaterina Chernova, who recently joined BCMaterials as a post-doctoral researcher. Dr. Chernova obtained her Degree in Chemistry Kurgan State University in Russia. After getting her master’s degree in Chemistry and Materials Science and PhD at Lomonosov Moscow State University, she continued to work at that academical institution as a researcher in the field of 2D materials including graphene oxide-based structures.

BCMaterials received an institutional visit from the rector of the UPV/EHU, Eva Ferreira, and the vice-rectors of Research and Scientific-Social Development and Transfer, Inmaculada Arostegui and Guillermo Quindós.

The visit is part of the excellent collaborative relationship between both institutions and opens the doors to new possibilities of cooperation in future projects and activities.

On December 19, the workshop 'Materials Science for Environment and Beyond' was held at the University of Minho (Portugal), organized by the consortium of entities participating in the European INDESMOF project. BCMaterials coordinates this project funded by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 program. The aim of this research is the development of new filters for the removal of heavy metals from water.

We want to congratulate Muhammed Haris, pre-doctoral researcher of BCMaterials, for becoming new doctor on November, 22. He made a brilliant defense of her thesis entitled "Phase-Stabilization In FAPbI3-Based Perovskite Solar Cells Via Powder Engineering And Additivisation Strategies".

It is our pleasure to see Haris grating this great achievement and we want to underline the hard work he has been doing through these PhD years. Congratulations, Haris!!

BCMaterials has announced the four winning proposals of the 2023 edition of 'High Risk – High Gain’ seed project contest. This initiative aims to promote disruptive research in materials science among the center's researchers, especially the postdoctoral ones. Each of the winning proposals will receive 5,000 euros to launch the research.

BCMaterials has signed a collaboration agreement with the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) from China. The agreement involves a 'Global Partnership Strategy', and is the result of a magnificent previous relationship between both institutions, facilitated in an outstanding manner by Qi Zhang, Ikerbasque Research Professor at BCMaterials.

On November 13, the workshop of the 'Electrochemisluminescent Bioassays for Personalized Diagnostics (ECliCare)' project, developed by BCMaterials along with the University of Bordeaux and the Public University of Navarra, took place in Bilbao. The event was held within the framework of the  'Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna 2023'.

In November, work on the EU4MOFS project began. This project belongs to European Union funded COST Actions program. BCMaterials coordinates this initiative, which establishes a pan-European collaborative network with the aim of promoting the development of metal-organic compounds, known as MOFs, hindered by the current difficulty of controlling their scalability in terms of structure, properties and performance.

Two of the new European projects in which BCMaterials takes part started their activity in mid-October. These two are the GIANCE project, that belongs to the European Commission's Horizon Europe program, and PIEZO2D, within the MSCA Staff Exchange initiative.